the monument of Turenne in the same chapel, that of S. Eustache, whence
it was trundled out as late as April, 1796, and transported to the
Petits-Augustins; for up to that time Turenne, not being a royal person,
had been left in peace. The demolition of the tombs seems to have gone
on fitfully from 1793 to 1795, as a little diversion between more
exciting events. After the emigration of the nobility in 1790; the
flight of the King to Varennes, and his false swearing to uphold the
constitution in 1792; and his treachery in carrying on a correspondence
with the enemies at the frontier; the popular anger waxed strong, and
led to the storming of the Tuileries on the 10th August,[23] which event
was to be celebrated the next year by the demolition of the tombs of S.
Denis. Louis XVI. had paid the penalty of his crimes; and like his
forerunner, Charles I., had shown that if he did not know how to live,
he at least had learnt how to die; but his ancestors had got off
scot-free. Why should they be allowed to rest peacefully, what remained
of them? Besides, lead was wanted for ammunition; and, just as the
church bells were in requisition for guns, and gold and silver vessels
for coinage, so the leaden coffins and roofs of churches could be melted
up into cannon balls. Imagine the stampede of Parisians along that paved
road that led from Paris to S. Denis. Only the other day, when the trams
were instituted, were those great rough stones taken up. At Versailles
you may still see the like, the paved part of the road very much
curved, with mud paths on each side--side walks for the people, while
the centre pavement was reserved for the quality. They radiate from the
palace, and enabled the "Roi Soleil" to visit his satellites at
Bellevue, the Trianon, Meudon, and S. Germain, without danger of his
lumbering coach sticking in the mire, to which he and his belonged. Many
must have been the journeys from the capital to S. Denis, which the
decree of the Convention sanctioned--journeys accompanied by crowbars
and pickaxes for the better destruction of the tombs. It was a ghastly
idea, but in no wise an exaggerated revenge for the kingly brutalities
perpetrated upon the living bodies of Ravaillac, Damiens, and such like
_canaille_.[24] We have a full account of the whole affair from the pen
of an eye-witness, one Dom Poirier, the custodian of the archives of the
monastery, who was present when the commission carried out the decree of
the Convention of the 31st July, 1793. The report of this commission is
so curious that I will quote it in full. After assigning to the children
of _Louis le conspirateur_[25] the portion of simple citizens, Barrère
continued as to the proposed arrangements to be carried out at "la
Franciade": "Enfin, le comité a pensé que, pour célébrer la journée du
10 août, qui a abattu le trône, il fallait, dans son anniversaire,
détruire les mausolées fastueux qui sont à Saint-Denis. Dans la
monarchie, les tombeaux même avaient appris à flatter les rois.
L'orgueil et le faste royal ne pouvaient s'adoucir sur ce théâtre de la
mort; et les porte-sceptre qui ont fait tant de maux à la France et à
l'humanité semblent encore, même dans la tombe, s'enorgueillir d'une
grandeur évanouie. La main puissante de la république doit effacer
impitoyablement ces épitaphes superbes et démolir ces mausolées qui
rappeleraient des rois l'effrayant souvenir." Thereupon a discussion
ensued. One member suggested that the nation being in peril, and wanting
guns to carry on its defence, a commission should proceed to Franciade,
otherwise S. Denis, in order to commence "l'exhumation des ci-devant
rois et reines, princes et princesses, dont les corps étaient renfermés
dans les caveaux de cette église." Their coffins were to be broken, the
lead and the bronze to be melted up, and sent to the arsenals for
conversion into arms and munitions of war. The former Benedictine Dom
Poirier was nominated commissioner for the Institut, and ordered to be
present at the performance. Some days after, the _Moniteur_ triumphantly
records the commencement of the business. Then there must have been a
lull, for on the 7th September the Conventionnel Lequinio cried from the
Tribune: "Je dénonce l'inexécution du décret qui ordonne l'entière
démolition des tombeaux de nos anciens tyrans à Saint-Denis. Sans doute,
en détruisant ces restes du despotisme, il faut conserver les monuments
des arts; mais il faut qu'au lieu d'être des objets d'idolâtrie, il ne
servent plus qu'à nourrir l'admiration des amis des arts, l'émulation et
le génie des artistes."
The notes taken by Dom Poirier are full of interesting details, told
with a certain _naïveté_; as, for instance, "in the morning, after
dinner, they descended into the tomb." Or "early in the morning they
began the work, but left off while they went to _déjeûner_." It must be
remembered, also (to quote M. Guilhermy), that the destruction "des
tombeaux et l'extraction des corps ont été deux opérations distinctes.
Au mois d'août, 1793, pour célébrer l'anniversaire _de la victoire du
peuple_ (10 août), on fit disparaître de l'église la plupart des
tombeaux et des statues; mais le temps pressait, on ne profana que les
restes déposés dans les massifs des monuments. Au mois d'octobre, on
acheva l'oeuvre commencée, en fouillant toutes les fosses et tous les
caveaux qu'il fut possible de retrouver. On n'épargna ni le temps ni les
recherches."
The work went on merrily. Marble tombs were smashed up as effectually as
the bodies, which were thrown into a pit dug upon the site of the
demolished Orléans chapel. Quick-lime helped the business as far as the
kings were concerned, but to the assistants it was of no use; and so
they had recourse to the burning of strong smelling powders, and the
firing of guns, in order to purify the air. Here is one of Dom Poirier's
notes:--
"_Nota._--Rièn n'a été remarquable dans l'extraction des cercueils
faite dans la journée du mardi 15 Octbre, 1793: la plupart de
ces corps étaient en putréfaction; il en sortait une vapeur noire
et épaisse, d'une odeur infecte, qu'on chassait à force de vinaigre
et de poudre qu'on eut la précaution de brûler; ce qui n'empêcha
pas les ouvriers de gagner des dévoiements et des fièvres, _qui
n'ont pas eu de mauvaises suites_."
What say the modern sanitary authorities to that!
The body of Henri IV. was found in a perfect state of preservation;
and he was kept some time in the church lying-in-state, as it were,
while a cast was taken of his face; but it may be noted that Dom
Poirier makes no allusion to the story of a soldier cutting off his
beard and sticking it on his own face.
The names of the princes and princesses were engraved upon little brass
plates attached to the covers of the coffins; and a few years ago three
or four of these brasses were found in the shop of a coppersmith, that
of Louis XIV. having served as the bottom of a stewpan. How are the
mighty fallen!
Let me quote some more of Dom Poirier's jottings:--
_Remarques._--In Charles V.'s coffin they found a crown in silver,
gilt, in a good state of preservation, a hand of justice of silver,
a sceptre 5 feet in length surmounted with acanthus leaves in
silver, exquisitely gilt, the gold possessing all its freshness and
brilliancy. "Ce sceptre était surmonté d'un bouquet en feuillage,
an milieu duquel s'élevait une grappe de corymbe, ce qui lui donne
à peu prés la forme d'un thyrse, tel qu'on en voit dans Monfaucon,
article de _sceptres_; morceau d'orfévrerie assez bien travaillé
pour son époque." (Alexandre Lenoir, _Musée des Monuments
français_.)
"Remarque. Une singularité de l'embaumement du corps de Charles
VII., c'est qu'on y avait parsemé du vif-argent, qui avait conservé
toute sa fluidité. On a observé la même singularité dans quelques
autres embaumements de corps du XIVe et du XVe siècles."
The following may interest some persons:--
"Le mercredi, 16 Octobre, 1793.
"Towards 7 o'clock in the morning the work was continued in the
vault of the Bourbons. They began with the coffin of Henriette
Marie, daughter of Henri IV. and wife of the unfortunate Charles
I., King of England, d. in 1669, aged 60;[26] and continued with
Anne Stuart, her daughter, the wife of _Monsieur_, only brother of
Louis XIV. d. in 1670, aged 26."
The body of Louis VIII., the father of S. Louis, had almost disappeared.
A cross was sculptured upon the lid of the stone coffin; in it was
found a sceptre of rotten wood, and a skull-cap of satin surrounded by a
band of gold woven stuff, forming a diadem. The body had been enveloped
in a winding sheet of gold tissue, some pieces of which were in a good
state of preservation.
_Remarques._--His body thus enveloped had been sewn up in a strong
leather covering.[27] "Il est vraisemblable qu'on ne l'a fait pour lui
que pour que son cadavre n'exhalât pas au dehors de mauvaise odeur, dans
le transport qu'on en fit de Montpensier en Auvergne, où il mourut à son
retour de la guerre contre les Albigeois."
"Ce cuir avait conservé toute son élasticité.... Dans les fouilles de
Saint-Germain-des-Près, on trouva un corps également enveloppé dans un
cuir. (Alexandre Lenoir, _Musée des Monuments Français_.) Nous pourrions
citer quelques autres exemples. Les corps de plusieurs princes de la
maison des Plantagenets, au douzième siècle, furent apportés à Rouen,
cousus dans une enveloppe de cuir; c'étaient ceux de Henry I., de
Henry-le-Jeune, de Richard-Coeur-de-Lion. Hugues de Grantemaisnil,
mort à Londres en 1098, ayant demandé à être inhumé à l'abbaye de
Saint-Évrould, en Normandie, son corps y fut transféré salé, et cousu
dans une peau de boeuf. Enfin on sait que saint Bernard fut enseveli
dans un sac de cuir" (v. B. de Peterborough; Orderic Vital; _Histoire de
Saint Bernard_, &c.) (Guilhermy).
There are notes upon the height of François I., by Alexandre Lenoir:--
"Le corps de François I^{er.} portait une taille extraordinaire et
une structure très-forte; l'un des fémurs de ce prince que j'ai
mesuré portait 53c (20 pouces) des condiles à la tête de l'os."
And upon the beauty of another gentleman's locks: "Le connétable
Louis de Sancerre avait de forts beaux cheveux; lors de
l'exhumation des corps à St Denis, il fut trouvé ayant encore trois
longues tresses d'environ 40 centimètres" (Alex. Lenoir).
The _procès-verbal_ makes no mention of the heart of Cardinal de
Bourbon, nor of the graves of Châtillon and the Marquis de
Saint-Maigrin, nor of the abbots, and grand priors; their remains
probably still rest in the soil under the church, for vaults have
several times been discovered in all parts during the restorations of
the building. It will be seen that the amount of valuables found was not
great: Five silver-gilt and five copper-gilt crowns, two silver-gilt
sceptres, four of copper-gilt, and three of wood; one silver hand of
justice, one silver-gilt, and one broken; (the _bâton d'ebêne_ was
possibly the stem of a hand of justice belonging to Charles le Bel); the
upper part of a crozier; four rings, two silver and two gold; the silver
seal of Constance of Castille bearing the effigy of the princess and an
inscription (now in the Bibliothèque); remains of spindles and distaffs;
four chains of bracelets; two clasps and a silver buckle; a good many
fragments of stuffs, tissues, and embroideries; a winding-sheet of gold
tissue, a silver one; a chasuble; a satin belt; shoes; a Carmelite
habit, and some gold thread. What became of these things, many of them
of no value but for a museum, is not known.
Such was the result of this disgusting entertainment, which was
principally a search for valuables to keep up the struggle for life.
Empty coffers, starving multitudes, an enemy crying at the frontier;
such was the legacy left by the wanton waste of a profligate court, and
a debased race of kings. The terrible revenge which followed did them
little harm; could they have been made to suffer in their life-time, it
would have been better than mauling about their dead bodies and
rummaging in their tombs; but unfortunately the last of the race was the
least guilty, although he had much heartlessness and treachery to answer
for; and had he felt the storm which had been threatening for some time,
the hurricane might have passed over. But selfishness is always blind;
and so the flood carried the poor thing away; and the skeletons, the
lead, the gold and the silver, were all swept into their respective
lime-strewn pits and melting pots. Here is the epilogue. In 1815 the
"Sous-préfet et le maire de Saint-Denis firent élever un tertre couvert
de gazon, de lis et de cyprès sur les deux fosses dans lesquelles
avaient été jetés les restes des rois et des princes." (Gilbert,
_Description historique de l'église de Saint-Denis_.) "On se proposait
d'ériger en ce lieu un monument expiatoire; mais il parut plus
convenable de réintègrer dans l'église les ossements que les deux fosses
contenaient encore." (Guilhermy.)
The metal of the monuments, with the exception of two enamelled brass
slabs which came from Royaumont, was all melted up. In the _Moniteur_ of
14th August, 1792, may be read a list of the tombs destroyed, furnished
by the town of S. Denis. The monument of Charles le Chauve must have
been magnificent. The effigy of the emperor reposed on a slab supported
by four lions. Two Angels censed the defunct; and four bishops sat at
the corners. We know the style of tomb from the description given by
Richer, a monk of Sénone, who wrote a chronicle during the reign of S.
Louis, and who saw it soon after it was set up. Charles had been a great
patron of the abbey and had given it the Holy Nail and a thorn from the
Holy Crown, besides part of the course of the Seine and the domain of
Ruel.
The tomb of "la noble royne de france Marguerite qui fu fame monseigneur
Sainct Loys, jadis roy de France" is engraved in Montfaucon's _Monuments
de la Monarchie française_. The tomb of Arnaud de Guilhem, seigneur de
Barbazan, was canopied, the warrior being represented in full armour.
The whole was in bronze, with an inscription, at the end of which was
the name of the artist: _fait à paris par Jehan Morant_.
The monument of Charles VIII. was of gilt copper. The king's effigy,
praying, was upon the platform, with little Angels at the corners also
kneeling and holding shields. Charles VIII. died of apoplexy, at
Amboise, praying, "_Mon Dieu et la glorieuse Vierge, Monseigneur saint
Claude, et Monseigneur saint Blaise me soient en ayde_." He was a pious
king and had been holding "quelques discours spirituels avec la reyne et
autres assistans," when he was struck down, being only twenty-eight
years of age. His tomb was said to be the finest in the choir. He was
regretted by all his subjects "spécialement de ses domestiques," for he
was generous, magnanimous, and decorated with all kingly virtues. The
queen was much afflicted, and thought she would die of grief, "demeurant
deux jours et deux nuicts sans reposer ny prendre aucun aliment." Thus
Dom Millet. Philippe de Commynes says the chamberlains "le feirent
ensevelir fort richement, et sur l'heure luy commencea le service, qui
jamais ne failloit ne jour ne nuict." For a whole month the chamberlains
and others watched the corpse, the entire expense amounting to
"quarante-cinq mil francs." The tomb was the work of Paganini of Modena,
no doubt one of the "ouvriers excellens en plusieurs ouvraiges comme
tailleurs et painctres" whom the king brought from Naples,[28] together
with a large collection of works of art, for the carriage of which, and
for "la nourriture de XXII. hommes de mestier, de XXXIII. jours à la
raison de XL. sous par jour," the king had to pay his tapissier
ordinaire 1594 livres; the collection weighing 87,000 livres.
[Illustration: MONUMENT OF FRANÇOIS I^{er.}]
Many marble tombs were also destroyed, some canopied, some resting upon
columns, others recumbent, the fragments of which were built up into a
pedestal for a figure of Liberty in the Place d'armes opposite the
church, a barbarous proceeding, surely; but forget not that the slabs
and broken tombs in our old burial grounds are treated much in the same
fashion, and piled up into pyramids to ornament the gardens. The
transportation of what was saved from the wreck to Paris was no mean
work. Think of the huge monument of François I., and about eighty
statues! The Convention had no cash to spend upon art; with its fourteen
armies defending the frontiers, it had enough expense without paying for
the carriage of monuments and such like. And so Lenoir conceived the
idea of stopping the military as they returned with empty waggons.
Arrived in Paris the difficulties did not end. Statues were chopped
about to enable them to fill certain spaces in the museum of the
Petits-Augustins, recumbent figures found themselves standing upright;
fragments of one tomb were taken to decorate another. But taking it all
in all, the museum arranged by Lenoir must have been very imposing. The
magnificent tomb of François I. stood in a chapel of the church, now
occupied by casts of the works of Michael-Angelo. Louis XII. had a place
of honour in another _salle_. But no sooner was all arranged, indeed
before the huge Henri II. monument had been set up, a royal decree of
16th December, 1816, ordered the museum to be closed, the building to be
turned into the École des Beaux-Arts, and all the kings and queens to be
marched back to S. Denis and the other churches whence they came. So
swiftly was the order carried out, that the poor old sovereigns became
still more mutilated; some were stowed away in the cellars, others were
re-erected upon principles of the greatest economy. If the
revolutionists tore down the monuments, the restored monarchists did not
take the trouble to set them up again; and those who went to study art
in the new schools were enabled to see the respect with which Mediæval
art was treated. Statues, canopies, columns, were tossed about anywhere;
until Louis XVIII. decided that they should be reinstated at S. Denis.
Then strange things occurred. The effigies were matched
indiscriminately, and every king was placed by the side of a queen,
whether his own or another's. Hence "singuliers incestes de pierre, et
des adultères de marbre de la pire espèce. On n'imaginerait jamais ce
qui se commit d'immoralités archéologiques sous les voutes obscures de
Saint-Denis."[29] The monuments were all arranged, museum fashion, in
the crypt until our own day, when they were once again removed, and
replaced in their old positions in the church, to be left, let us hope,
at last in peace.
The following is a list of the monuments returned to S. Denis:
Monuments formerly at S. Denis 52
" from S. Germain-des-Près 6
" " Notre-Dame de Corbeil 2
" " S. Geneviève 1
" " S. Catherine-du-Val 2
" " des Cordeliers 3
" " des Jacobins 7
" " des Célestins 12
" " des Minimes 2
" " des Grands-Jésuites 1
" " l'abbaye de Royaumont 6
" " l'abbaye de Maubuisson 2
" " l'abbaye de Poissy 1
" " l'abbaye de Notre-Dame à Soissons 1
" " l'abbaye de Haute Bruyère 1
" " la collégiale de Saint-Cloud 2
" of origin unknown 13
" new or made up of fragments 53
----
167
[Illustration: TOMB OF LOUIS XII., AND COLUMN OF FRANÇOIS II.]
By far the most beautiful tomb is that of Louis XII. "Sur le lieu de la
sépulture de Louis XII. et de la reyne Anne, le roy François leur gendre
et successeur à la couronne, leur à fait dresser un très-somptueux
mausolée de fin marbre blanc, à deux estages, qui est une des belles
pièces de l'Europe, pour ne pas dire la plus belle."[30] Dom Jacques
Doublet and Germain Millet both attributed the work to Ponzio; but
Félibien, reading a passage in a Latin commentary printed by Jean Brèche
in 1550, discovered the true author: "Voyez le monument" (says Brèche)
"de marbre consacré à Louis XII., travaillé avec un artifice admirable
et plein d'élégance, dans notre très-illustre cité de Tours, par Jean
Juste, statuaire du plus grand talent." The discovery of an order for
payment of 400 _écus_ to Juste in a letter from the king to Cardinal
Duprat, sets the matter at rest if the date of Ponzio's arrival did not
also do so.[31] The tomb was taken to S. Denis in 1527; whereas Ponzio
did not arrive in France until about 1530. This way of attributing all
that is good in art to Italy was formerly very common. Even in our own
time all branches of French art were looked upon by our fathers as
frivolous and trivial. Italian Renaissance was trivial enough, but
French Renaissance utterly meretricious. To the insane worshippers of
the "Gothic style," it alone was pure. The sumptuous grandiosities of
Louis XIV. were tolerable, because they aimed at being Classic. The
portico of the Panthéon or the colonnade of the Louvre were considered
fine; but the elegancies of Jean Goujon were wanting in severity. Even
Watteau, though admitted to be graceful, was "meretricious"; Berlioz
amongst musicians was only "noisy and claptrap;" and sculpture and
architecture were criticised in like manner. And yet the designs upon
the tomb of Louis XII., especially the pilasters which support the
canopy, could not be surpassed in beauty by the artists of any country.
Jean Juste, Philibert Delorme, Jean Goujon, Michel Colomb, Jean Cousin,
and Germain Pilon formed a group of men scarcely surpassed by Sansovino,
Riccio, Desiderio da Settignano and the Rossellini. The Italians led the
way, but the French proved themselves very apt pupils.
It is not my intention to describe the tomb of Louis XII., or, indeed,
any of the others, minutely. Descriptions without illustrations are
mostly dry and dreary. Nor have I tried to illustrate the details of
ornament in the churches or their contents--in a book of this size it
would be impossible; my aim has rather been to give the general effect
of their styles; of their everyday appearance; of the life which goes on
in and around them; and of the position, especially in the case of S.
Denis, of their tombs and furniture. A large photograph and a magnifying
glass will show the beauty of the sculpture of the tombs far better than
any drawing of mine; for such subjects photography is unique. But for
artistic effect, for general impressions of buildings it mostly fails,
and all artists will agree with me that, for some reason or other,
photographs of buildings seem generally to have been taken from the
worst point of view, and are nearly always wanting in impressiveness.
[Illustration: TOMB OF HENRI II. AND CATHERINE DE MEDICI.]
Jean Juste had a brother Antoine, and they seem together to have been
the authors of the beautiful tomb of the children of Charles VIII. at
Tours; of the fountain called de Beaune, also at Tours; of the two
monuments of the _famille_ Gaudin; and the tomb of the _général des
finances_, Thomas Bohier. In 1530, one Juste de Just, _tailleur en
marbre_, living at Tours received 102 _livres_ 10 _sous_ from the king
for a Hercules and a Leda. This Juste was probably the same as Jean. The
bas-reliefs round the base of Louis XII.'s tomb represent various
campaigns of the king; the figures at the four corners are the Cardinal
Virtues, those within the arcades are the twelve Apostles. Within are
the king and queen, entirely nude, lying upon a mattress in the last
agony of death; while above, upon the platform, they are praying before
a cushioned faldstool, for their own departed souls. Such is the motive
of this and the other two tombs of the same character, those of Henri
II. and François I^{er.}
The former of these is the work of Germain Pilon, and was originally
placed under the dome of Philibert Delorme's magnificent chapel erected
for the Valois family. It is of marble with bronze figures. The king and
queen pray upon the housetop; at each end are openings through which are
to be seen the figures of the defunct in the sleep of death. The
terrible side of death, which is prominent in the expression on the
faces of Louis XII. and his queen, is here absent; and Catherine is
represented young and beautiful as she appeared at the death of her
husband, whom she survived thirty years. At the four corners are bronze
figures of the Cardinal Virtues; and the kneeling figures of the
sovereigns upon the canopy are also in bronze. The tomb has always been
justly esteemed as a magnificent work, and even Bernini admired it. "_Le
cavalier Bernin_," says Sauval, "_a admiré le tombeau de Valois, qui
voulait ne rien trouver de passable en France_." The Virtues ornament
this tomb also, and present a note-worthy point for Total Abstainers,
the figure of Temperance bears _two_ cups; can this be meant for wine as
well as water? or for two sorts of water, aërated and mineral?